Foundation Tied to Penn State May Not Survive Abuse Case, Its Leader Says

By Mark Niquette, Sophia Pearson and Andrew Zajac -
Nov 15, 2011

Second Mile, the foundation for
needy children started by former Penn State University assistant
football coach Jerry Sandusky, may not survive the scandal over
charges that he molested eight boys, the charity’s vice chairman
said.

Discussions about Second Mile’s future will take place with
donors and other supporters in the next few weeks, said Dave
Woodle, vice chairman of Second Mile’s board of directors, who
assumed responsibility for day-to-day operations after Chief
Executive Officer Jack Raykovitz resigned yesterday.

“It would be erroneous to say it’s not in doubt,” Woodle
said yesterday in an interview at the Second Mile office. “This
has had a major impact, and that’s why we want to take some time
and talk to all those involved and don’t go to a hasty
decision.”

Woodle’s comments followed the firings last week of Penn
State football coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham B. Spanier afterSandusky, 67, was charged with sexually
assaulting boys in locations that include the university’s
athletic complex.

“It was within the Second Mile program that Sandusky found
his victims,” a grand-jury report said. “Through the Second
Mile, Sandusky had access to hundreds of boys, many of whom were
vulnerable due to their social situations.”

Former District Attorney

The Second Mile board is turning to Lynne Abraham, the
former district attorney of Philadelphia and a partner in
Haddonfield, New Jersey-based law firm Archer & Greiner, to
oversee an internal investigation into questions involving
Sandusky and the charity, Woodle said. The board hopes to have
its findings and recommendations finished by the end of the
year, it said in a statement yesterday.

“The allegations that were made, and assuming the outcome
is true, are beyond disgusting to this organization,” said
Woodle, 56.

Second Mile, which Sandusky founded in 1977, serves
children with physical, emotional and academic needs and is
“committed to helping young people achieve their potential as
individuals and as community members,” according to its
website.

In an interview yesterday with Bob Costas of NBC News’
“Rock Center” program, Sandusky admitted to showering and
“horsing around” with young boys but said he isn’t a pedophile
and denied the charges against him.

Sandusky Interview

“I say that I am innocent of those charges,” Sandusky
said. “I could say that I have done some of those things. I
have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I
have hugged them and I have touched their legs without intent of
sexual contact.” Sandusky is free on $100,000 bond.

Woodle said he hopes programs at the charity that have
public support can continue.

“I think the programs are survivable because we have had
overwhelming support of people saying, ‘You’ve got to figure out
how to keep these programs going,’” he said.

Katherine Genovese, Raykovitz’s wife and an executive vice
president of Second Mile, remains on the staff, Woodle said.
Asked whether there was consideration given to whether she
should stay after her husband left, Woodle said that would be
part of the internal investigation.

Raykovitz made $132,923 and Genovese was paid $100,580,
according to the group’s 2009 non-profit tax filing. They were
Second Mile’s two highest-paid staff members, the filing shows.
Genovese was unavailable for comment, and Raykovitz declined to
comment beyond his statement.

Contact in Showers

The grand-jury report says foundation officials became
aware of contact between Sandusky and boys in Penn State’s
football showers in 1998 and again in 2002.

Second Mile’s assets more than tripled from 2002 through
2009, according to Internal Revenue Service filings. It had
revenue of $2.7 million and net assets of $9 million, according
to its 2010 annual report.

Sandusky was its “primary fundraiser,” the grand-jury
report said.

“That wasn’t a term that we would use at the time, to my
recollection,” Woodle said. “But he did meet with individuals
that would provide contributions, yes. He provided an interface
for the organization. I don’t think that was a secret.”

In March 2002, a Penn State graduate assistant saw Sandusky
having anal sex with a boy in the shower at the football team’s
headquarters, according to a grand-jury report released Nov. 5
by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office. The assistant
told Athletic Director Tim Curley about the incident, according
to the report. Caroline Roberto, an attorney for Curley, didn’t
return a phone call.

‘Inappropriate Conduct’

Curley later testified to the grand jury that the assistant
had described “inappropriate conduct” and denied the assistant
reported “anything of a sexual nature,” the report said.
Curley said he told Second Mile’s Raykovitz about the matter.

A statement on the organization’s website said university
officials told Raykovitz that someone reported being
“uncomfortable about seeing Jerry Sandusky in the locker room
shower with a youth” and that the foundation wasn’t made aware
“of the very serious allegations contained in the grand-jury
report.”

Curley, 57, has been charged with perjury. The grand jury
said Curley’s testimony that he hadn’t been told Sandusky was
molesting the boy is contradicted by the evidence.

Sandusky continues to collect his pension from the
university as he faces 40 counts of child sex-abuse charges,
Pamela Hile, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania State Employees’
Retirement System, said in an e-mail.

Pension Payments

Sandusky received a payment of $148,271 when he retired
from Penn State, and his pension is $58,898 a year, Hile said.
Former university vice president Gary Schultz, who is charged
with perjury in the case, took a $421,847 payment in 2009 and
gets $27,558 a month, or almost $331,000 a year, she said.
Schultz’s lawyer, Tom Farrell, didn’t return a phone call.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett told reporters Nov. 10
that the state will look into Second Mile’s response to
allegations against Sandusky.

“I need to know what the charity, what the board members,
knew,” the governor said.

Penn State sold land for construction of a new learning
center to Second Mile in 2002, documents show.

The foundation bought 41 acres in Patton Township,
Pennsylvania, for $168,500 from Penn State, according to
documents submitted to the state as part of the charity’s
application for a $3 million grant.

Second Mile’s 46,000-square foot (4,270-square meter)
center is slated to be built on about 60 acres (24 hectares)
next to the University Park Airport in State College.

Buying Land

The charity bought 20 acres for $64,000 in March 1981 from
Winston Corp., county records show. The group consolidated the
property with land purchased from Penn State to secure
construction financing, according to documents submitted as part
of its grant application. The two pieces were appraised for more
than $400,000 each in 2009, the documents show.

Building the center had been a goal of Sandusky’s and the
focus of fundraising efforts in 2007 and 2008, according to
columns Sandusky wrote in Second Mile’s Milestones newsletters.
Sandusky envisioned a building with a multipurpose room, locker
rooms, classrooms and a dormitory space for overnight
accommodations, said his column in the charity’s summer 2007
newsletter.

“The Center for Excellence will provide a year-round
facility and campus that will serve as a home for many of our
programs,” Sandusky said in the newsletter.

Construction Contract

The charity awarded the contract for construction of the
new learning facility to Robert Poole, chairman of its state
board of directors. Poole owns State College, Pennsylvania-based
Poole Anderson Construction. Poole didn’t return phone calls
seeking comment.

State authorities yesterday held up the $3 million grant
from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program for
the learning-center project.

“It’s currently suspended, pending further review,” said
Eric Shirk, a spokesman for Corbett.

The governor’s office approved the grant in July. None of
the money has been spent, Shirk said.

Board Members

Second Mile, which removed the names of board members from
its web site on Nov. 11, has several supporters with high-
profile ties to Penn State. Former PSU President Bryce Jordan
was listed as a member of the charity’s honorary board. Former
Penn State spokesman Steve Hevner was described as a member of
one of the group’s regional boards. Dorothy Huck, the wife of
Penn State emeritus board trustee Lloyd Huck, also sits on the
charity’s state board of directors.

It isn’t unusual in a town such as State College for there
to be close connections between community groups and the
university, Woodle said.

“It is difficult in this community to operate without
interfacing with the university,” he said.

The Hucks didn’t return phone calls seeking comment on
their ties to the charity. Hevner declined to comment.

“They picked up my name when I was president,” Jordan
said in a phone interview. “I would guess I gave them
permission to do so when I was there but I’ve had no affiliation
with them.”

Ties to Charity

Bill Mahon, the vice president of university relations at
Penn State, said in an interview Nov. 11 he didn’t know the
specifics surrounding the land sale to Second Mile. Asked
whether there are concerns about the university’s ties to the
charity given the allegations, Mahon replied, “It’s on our list
of the 100 things we need to pay attention to here in the next
couple of weeks.”

The charity’s former lawyer, Wendell Courtney, who was once
counsel for the university, said last week that he resigned Nov.
7. In an interview, Courtney said he quit as Second Mile’s
attorney to avoid potential conflicts of interest because, as
the university’s lawyer, he had dealings with Curley and
Schultz.

Courtney disputed the assertion in the grand-jury report
that he served as counsel to Second Mile, as well as to Penn
State, during a 1998 investigation of Sandusky involving minor
boys in the football showers. Courtney said he didn’t begin
serving as the Second Mile’s lawyer until early 2009.

A spokesman for state Attorney General Linda Kelly said she
stands behind the report.

“I’m not going to debate the grand jury presentment with
anyone,” spokesman Nils Frederiksen said in a phone interview.
“The presentment is drafted at the direction of the grand jury.
They decided the language based on the evidence and the
testimony.”